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Service and Warranty

I have blogged about the Tesla service several times over the years. I have found the service personnel very courteous and have given them in general high reviews as do other owners, who do not have a visible presence in the internet world.

My car went in again for service recently and I drove a 85 loaner with 19” wheels, coil suspension, parking sensors and a parcel shelf.

Ding on Loaner Vehicle

What was interesting about my recent service experience is that for the first time they are checking both vehicles for door dings and paint issues. The valet said that some customers have complained about the clear coat leaving marks from rain spots. This year has been so dry, outside of some freak summer rain in the early hours, I haven’t thought about rain. The loaner with about 500 miles on it actually had a significant ding on the front of the car.

Car Needs Service

Unfortunately during my service, my loaner vehicle had a failure on the last day. With the new firmware 5.12 on the loaner, I got a generic warning “Car Needs Service”. The car was still completely drivable but the main screen was not responsive to touch and could not be rebooted.

Used Only 314 kWh/mile While Driving the Loaner

A number of smart buyers are buying these loaner vehicles in order to get faster delivery and a slightly less expensive car. I think buying a loaner from Tesla is a good option. Surprisingly when I had this loaner, I drove it at only 314 Wh/mi, which is the lowest value I have ever driven since hypermiling in Utah. In these 125 miles, I did only 20 miles of freeway driving and most of the miles were on boring and busy city streets. Since the loaners are almost the identical car that one already owns, there is no reason to go on a joy ride.

Parcel Shelf

I did notice the slight difference of the coil suspension and the 19” wheels but still found the loaner configuration a very nice option for someone who wants to save money in both the purchase and the tire wear. This loaner was the first car with a parcel shelf, which I liked more than expected. It was unobtrusive and easily hides things in the trunk — even if all you are hiding is reusable grocery bags.

Today I was very excited that they extended the warranty on the 85kWh model S for the drive unit to 8 years and infinite miles. A number of owners had experienced issues with the drive units including another blogger, Dan Edmunds. Many of these issues were relatively minor such as noise during acceleration. Since the drive unit is sealed, the entire drive unit is replaced. Today, Elon Musk made this warranty announcement including that it is retroactive for all Model S 85kWh vehicles!